This invention is directed generally to a snow gun assembly for making snow and in particular to a gun assembly having a unitary body member wherein water under pressure and compressed air are admitted to the body member. The water stream and air stream pass through the body member and are discharged under pressure at water outlets and air outlets where the streams meet and the water is atomized and projected through a pattern plate to the atmosphere to form snow.
The making of artificial snow at this point in time is more an art than a science. However, as pointed out in the publication SKI AREA MANAGEMENT for Sept. 1983 in an article beginning on page 67 titled "A Primer On Air-to-Water Ratios" by Norman G. Smith, certain factors are known, e.g., (1) only water makes snow, (2) the capital and operating costs of supplying air to a snow making system are many times that of supplying water, (3) all snow guns are not created equal, (4) all things being equal the efficiency of a snow gun is determined by its air to water ratio with the lower the ratio the higher the efficiency.
The prior art snow guns have certain problems which the snow gun of this invention overcomes. The prior art guns had one or more of the following problems: (1) a high air to water ratio, (2) a non-uniform, too large and/or too small water droplets, (3) too bulky and/or too heavy in weight, (4) difficult to clean, (5) a snow making pattern which was too wide or too narrow, (6) too high an operational noise level, (7) difficult to mount during use, (8) difficult and/or expensive to manufacture, (9) tendency to freeze up during use, and (10) not durable and expensive to maintain.